ANDREW PIERCE: Tycoon woos Labour - and Ed's old flame

Andrew Rosenfeld, who has pledged to give £1.5million to Labour by the election, has been wooing some of the party's biggest hitters

Two years ago, Andrew Rosenfeld was a multi-millionaire tax exile living in Switzerland.Today Rosenfeld, who is worth £100 million, is one of the most influential figures in ‘Red’ Ed Miliband’s Labour Party.

Only last week Miliband, his wife Justine and senior Labour MPs were at Rosenfeld’s Christmas party at his £6.5 million Regent’s Park mansion. Talk about champagne socialists!

Rosenfeld, who has pledged to give £1.5 million to Labour by the election, has been wooing some of the party’s biggest hitters. Rachel Reeves, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, and Lord (Stewart) Wood, Miliband’s head of strategy, were guests at the villa he rented in Tuscany in the summer. They were also at the festive bash.

Property developer Rosenfeld has set up a series of regional campaign units for Labour, whose general secretary Ian Nichol is a close ally.

Intriguingly, Rosenfeld left his wife this year to set up home with one of Red Ed’s first girlfriends, Juliet Soskice. She is close to Miliband and his wife, and the two couples meet regularly. ‘His money and his relationship with Juliet have bought him unrivalled access to the party hierachy,’ says one senior Labour figure. ‘But it’s unhealthy for a donor to be so close to the leadership.’

His telephone company The People’s Operator (TPO) — an ‘ethical’ mobile phone business — gives him even more clout. TPO has contracts with the GMB trade union, Unite and a new one with the Labour party (customers can opt to give 10 per cent of their call revenue to Labour or the unions).

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And the company gave free calls to Unite strike committee members when they were carrying out a campaign of intimidation at the homes of directors of the Grangemouth oil refinery recently.

Rosenfeld is conspicuous by his consumption. He once paid £8.5 million cash for a house and sold his home in Geneva for £30 million to the family of a dictator accused of boiling his enemies to death.

He is now seeking a role in Labour’s election campaign unit. ‘With his money he’ll probably get it,’ says the Labour figure.

Now sack Santa Balls

Embattled Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls played Father Christmas at the MPs' children's party at the Commons last week

Embattled Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls played Father Christmas at the MPs’ children’s party at the Commons last week. Ed Miliband should give him the sack permanently.

Quote of the week: The Labour Left-winger Diane Abbott, making life even more difficult for Mr Balls: ‘One thing you should not under-estimate in Ed Miliband is the capacity for ruthlessness. If he feels it is right to bring in Alistair Darling — or whatever — he will do it.’

The case for an MPs' pay cut

No wonder the panel from the Independent Standards Authority (IPSA) came up with a ludicrous 11 per cent pay rise for MPs. The board of IPSA is made up of two lawyers, two members of the NHS board, and two civil servants — and not a single member of the private sector or business community. But, since most of our laws are now made by the EU, rather than giving MPs at Westminster a huge pay rise, shouldn’t they be taking a salary cut?

There is a distinct lack of festive cheer in David Cameron’s Witney Conservative Association. The constituency party’s ‘what’s on’ guide lists only one social event for the whole of December — a luncheon club hosted by the Chipping Norton branch. The next event? A luncheon club hosted by the Chipping Norton branch on January 9. Bah humbug!

Has the rift between Ed Miliband and the trade union barons healed over his botched plan to reform union funding? I hear that last week he hosted a House of Commons champagne reception for no fewer than 150 top figures from the nation’s trade unions for a cosy pre-Christmas drink and chat. There were representatives from Unite, of course, Unison, and TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady was also there. Cheers!

The race to be Labour candidate in the London Labour Mayoral race is hotting up. David Lammy, the Tottenham MP, interviewed in Total Politics magazine, says: ‘It’s a great job. Who wouldn’t want it? I’m seriously thinking about it.’ Serious thinking was nowhere to be seen when Lammy was on Celebrity Mastermind, when he was higher education minister. Asked which Marie won a Noble Prize for research into radiation, he replied: ‘Antoinette.’ And quizzed about which monarch followed Henry VIII, he replied: ‘Henry VII.’The man is a genius.